The ship departed early that morning. Ani stayed in the cabin below deck so he wouldn't have to put up with the sun light. There wasn't much sun in the forest where he enjoyed practicing, so the ocean was not a welcome change. Genkai and Otouto had insisted that he stayed with them, but he politely refused and slipped away without a word.
He leaned back in a hammock in the back of the room and spaced off while looking at the ceiling. His left hand was tucked under his head, and he brought his right hand into his line of sight. The ability he had was seemingly useless, for he could only craft his entire hand into blunt objects—that meant he had nothing extremely useful up his sleeve. He never really could defend himself without his brother's help.
Frustrated at himself, he focused hard on his hand. With much quicker results than his last attempts, Ani's flesh began to meld together and sharpen. In half a minute, he thrust his flesh blade into the ceiling with a bit of a muffled roar.
Suddenly, a steady, soft clapping pulled him out of his thoughts. He didn't even have to look to know it was Akuma. His voice sounded, "Nicely done. That's much more effective than when we first met."
"Hmm..." He pulled his blade out and formed it back to his hand. Then, he rested his arm over his stomach and closed his eyes lightly.
"Do you mind if I stay down here? I feel a little sick."
"I don't care."
Akuma sat down in a chair near the hammock. He looked over Ani in a casual way and asked, "Ani, do you hate me?"
"No. I just find you annoying."
"So, you don't mind that I'm a demon?"
"Not particularly."
He seemed to be relieved by that statement. At least they were on speaking terms and no punches, slaps, claw swipes, or kicks had been thrown yet; Ani hadn't snapped at him, either.
Silence fell upon the cabin. The demon became nervous at this and put out another statement. He uttered, "You're acting more detatched than usual." The psychic didn't move or make a sound. "You're acting like your brother."
A loud "thud" rang about the room. Akuma looked at the psychic, who had punched the ceiling and gotten his sharpened knuckles caught in it. "Don't compare me to him!" he hissed. "If you're going to stay down here, be quiet and let me sleep!"
So, Akuma listened to him for a few minutes. Ani was just about to fall asleep, but the demon said, "Ani, do you think we stand a chance?"
"We can't just give up, now can we?" returned the psychic, with annoyance in his voice. He sat up and hopped down from the hammock, landing in a half-crouched position.
"I don't mean that. I mean... could you ever be interested in me?" Ani stood there looking like shocked and said nothing in return. "Well, I care about you a lot, and I'm sure I could take excellent care of you."
Ani shook his head as he started to really absorb what Akuma was telling him. He knew the demon had interest in him, but he thought it was a boyish crush or something of the like. Why of all the demons in Makai did Mr. Mayakashi put them with this coy, arrogant creature? And why of all the humans he knew did he have to like Ani Toguro?
Ani knew himself that he was less than attractive. He knew that he was weak and perhaps the most useless member of Team Toguro.
"Akuma, please leave. I wish to persue this matter no longer," he whispered in a tone that barely hinted his true annoyance.
The demon approached him, and he stepped away. It went on like this until Ani was pinned against the wall. Akuma's blue eyes kept a gaze on the yellow-green irises as he whispered, "This is all I ask of you... give me a chance. Is it so hard to believe that someone may actually love you?"
"Yes!" He formed his fingers into claws and set a firm glare at the demon. "Just let me have some time alone. I would like to go back to sleep, if you don't mind."
Akuma backed away, seeing the threatening motion Ani was planning. The psychic got back into the hammock and curled up with a blanket. He noticed Akuma followed suit and lay on the cot to the side of the cabin.
Before either of them could get to sleep, Otouto came down. He looked at both of them and then shook his head. He closed his eyes and turned away.
"Mr. Mayakashi was worried about you two. You were being very loud."
"Forgive me, brother. Akuma and I were having a discussion," explained Ani only half interested. "You can go back to your little witch now and us in peace."
Otouto growled a little out of annoyance. He turned back, went into the room, and lifted Ani by the shoulders. Looking his smaller brother in the eyes, he said firmly, "Watch what you call her!" He then shoved Ani into the wall and turned to walk away. No one tried to stop him. Ani slid to the floor, panting slightly; it was hard to believe that Otouto just did that. He never paid attention to the witch comments before—infact, he usually let them slide without more than a roll of the eyes.
"Ani, are you hurt?" asked Akuma as he jumped to his feet.
"I'm fine," Ani replied, bluntly. "Just leave me alone!"
There was something definitely wrong with his brother; hell, there was something wrong with the entire group—that much was apparent because of the incident. Is that all that's bothering Otouto? Ani asked mentally. Perhaps, there was more to it, but his younger brother was certainly in no mood to talk about it.
After the painfully long and silent boat trip, Mr. Mayakashi checked the team into the hotel. He would share a room with Akuma and Ani while Otouto and Genkai shared a room alone. It was his idea of encouraging the "happy couple" to stay that way. Too bad his attempts were all in vain.